I don’t believe rumors that Myles Powell faked his injury to enable the heftier and taller import Andrew Nicholson to replace him enroute to the best of seven final series.
Brgy. Ginebra can stand on its own.
This much Pinoy PBA fanatics have witnessed in the Com’s Cup where the Kings led 3-2 at one point only to be tripped in Game 6.
This is where Powell came in to sub for the injured Nicholson who hurt his ankle in Game 3 and missed matches 4 and 5.
But these past developments are already a thing of the past.
Whether you like it or not, Game 7 becomes an “epic war” between the Trojans (Ginebra) and the attacking Greeks (Bay Area Dragons) at the 50,000 seat capacity of the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan..
The Trojans have nobody but Hector to defend the fort but the Greeks have the “invincible” Achilles on their side.
Still, the invaders failed to crack open the Torjans’ massive castle fortifications despite Achilles’ slaying of Hector in a hand to hand combat.
The historical parallelism may not be to your liking but I kinda look at the situation like the Dragons brought with them a “Trojan horse” in the person of Powell.
The way he performed in Game 6 where his team leveled the series and extended it to a do-or-die match on Sunday, Powell did reflect the abilities of an Achilles, escaping against the tight leech-like defense of Ginebra guards.
Tim Cone – in a sense – lost the momentum he enjoyed in Game 5 and was temporarily shaken by the loss. The Kings almost but not quite did the Dragons in.
I reckon Goorjian wil field Powell again tomorrow because he attracts a double teaming defense where one of his boys is left open. This much happened several times and Powell, though unable to take his shot, was able to issue assist passes and how!
Therefore, plugging the loopholes must be in the drawing board for Cone and his deputies.
With LA Tennorio enduring a pain in the groin, Nards Pinto was resurrected and to stalk the hot shooting Powell throughout. Maybe Cone should tandem Jereniah Gray with Pinto to harass the bearded Dragon sniper.
How about Pringle? Stanley played sparingly and did not prominently figure out in Game 6. He could create some problems – as he did previously – for Goorjian if Cone gives him more playing time.
Thompson might have over-extended his workload to overcome Tenorio’s limited playing time.
As usual, JB, Japeth Aguilar and Christian Standhardinger will man the boards against the hulking 7 foot five Liu who can terrorize anyone by just staring down on his opponents.
By and large, it is a fifty-fifty chance.
If any, the breaks in the last quarter and the dying minutes will help determine who brings home the bacon. (Email feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!
